Die Another Day
by Hawki
Summary: Oneshot: Grace knew that one day, she would die. Chances were it would be at the hands of the machine. Yet for all the suicide missions she went on, for whatever reason, she kept coming back alive. Even as everyone around her continued to die.


_A/N_

_So, this contains spoilers for _Dark Fate_...sort of. I say that because of said spoilers, some of them were revealed in a Variety interview with Tim Miller, in regards to details on Grace. So, spoilers, but spoilers that were freely released. However, I did take elements from the supposed plot leak of the film awhile back, so keep that in mind - if you want to avoid any spoilers, stop reading now._

* * *

**Die Another Day**

Her name was Grace.

She didn't have a last name. Her parents had no doubt, but she'd never learnt their last names, let alone their forenames. She'd been found wandering the streets of Los Angeles – a cemetery of ashes in the same way that so many other cities were. People had found her. Raised her. Learnt that her name was Grace, because she knew that much, but that she had no idea what a surname even was. As she grew older, she learnt that surnames had been how people distinguished each other. One kind of had to, when there were 8 billion people living on the planet, and inevitably, shared names. Of course, that had been before Judgement Day, when by best guess, 4 billion people had lost their lives instantly, and millions more lost their lives from starvation, to radiation poisoning, to being killed by their fellow men. And after that, came the machines. Autonomous drones, raining fire from above. Making their way through the ruins of mankind's domain on armoured tracks, slaughtering any survivor they could find before settling instead on herding people into camps to build more machines to herd more people, so more machines could be built. It was a vicious cycle that ended only with the internees' deaths once their bodies had been exhausted.

She'd survived all that. Right now, in Camp Abaddon, she was reminded of the hell she'd escaped. And of the hell tens of thousands remained in. Glancing back at the laser fence, and at the REV-4 that had 'escorted' her in, she activated her radio.

"Red Queen calling White Ace, over."

"Red Queen this is White Ace – report on status, over."

"I'm inside the perimeter. Proceeding to the control hub, over."

"Good job Red Queen – initiate radio silence. Get the perimeter down, and we'll send in the cavalry, over."

"Roger that. Initiating radio silence."

It seemed insane to her that her contact could be so calm in the face of this. The entire operation was based on insanity. Still, insanity had ended the world that had once existed. In the years immediately after Judgement Day, as the machines rose from the ashes to show the world who ruled it, people said that fighting them was insane. When talk reached Grace's ears of a so-called resistance, smashing the bots into scrap and freeing their fellow men, it sounded insane as well. And what had followed…She glanced back at the REV-4 and smirked. She was quite possibly insane herself, but if that got the job done, so be it.

"Thanks for the help Robbie," she murmured, before sprinting across the grass to the camp's control hub. One that, according to recon, was part of the same structure as the smeltery.

The REV-4 had done its job. Reprogrammed by the Resistance, it had led Grace to the gates of hell. She'd known that at that moment, either the gate would be opened and she'd be taken for processing, or Legion would recognise that the REV unit escorting its prisoner wasn't operating on the same wavelength, so to speak. Worse, it might detect what lay beneath the prisoner's skin. She'd watched the turrets swivel towards her. She'd seen the glowing red eyes of a REV-5 squinting down at her from the guardhouse. She'd held her breath, before releasing it and seeing it drift away in the chilly night air in front of her. Finally however, the gate had opened. The REV-4 had taken her to processing before Grace had deactivated it. Since it wasn't under Legion's control, it wouldn't detect the loss of one of its units. So now, not only had Grace swung its pulse rifle over her shoulder, but had opened up its chassis to retrieve a data-thief, a radio, a knife, and a pair of grenades. Barely enough to take down a single REV unit, but enough, she hoped, to complete the mission and reduce the metal fuckers here to scrap.

She sprinted across the grass with a speed that no human could match, heading towards the camp's control hub. The Resistance could only guess at the interior schematics at this point, but Grace figured that all she had to do was get in, head up, find the hub, and do her job. Like, no pressure right. People like her usually died on missions like this, and she'd done this kind of shit seven times already. Having gone beyond that, not to mention three, she figured she was out of lucky numbers and that sooner or later, her body would be feeding the worms. But before that…She grit her teeth, hiding behind a smaller structure as an HK drifted through the air, its searchlight lazily scanning the grass. Most of Legion's eyes were pointed outwards from the perimeter, but she figured that it had eyes on the inside as well. And finally making it to the smeltery, opening a side door that led to its main floor…she could see why.

_Shit._

It was huge. Camp Abaddon was estimated to hold over 600 prisoners, and given how many people were here, that was apparently a pretty accurate estimate. Hundreds of men, women, and children working through choking conditions. Here, so far from the molten metal, Grace could still feel the heat bombarding her. Abaddon had been the Resistance's name for the camp (what Legion called it didn't matter), and seeing this…

_Hell, _Grace reflected. She squinted, peering through the steam. _Absolute hell._

It wasn't made easier that there were REV-5 units about. Half a dozen of them on the floor, half a dozen on the walkways above. All of them carrying a pulse rifle, all of them scanning the human prisoners, all of them as black as the moonless night, staring upon the slaves with glowing red eyes. The REVs might have been outnumbered 30:1 by the prisoners, but bereft of weapons, bereft of hope…Grace figured that it was the right number.

_Oh for the good ol days, when you just wanted to kill us. _

It was almost gratifying in a way, that Legion needed so many humans alive now. Problem with initiating a nuclear war was that nukes tended to wipe out your own infrastructure, so you needed to be able to build your machines somehow. And with the Resistance taking out one Legion site after another…yep. Gratifying indeed. Horrible of course, but still, gratifying.

_Come on. Move it._

She made her way to the upper walkway, taking her time to see the REVs' patrol routes. The ones up here were barely moving, and their eyes were forever downwards. With stealth honed by a lifetime of hiding from their ilk, and speed from the 'gifts' that had been given to her, Grace evaded their gazes, making her way to the control hub. Which, as she peered into the room, was little more than a manager's office.

_Budget cuts Legion?_

Probably not. Most likely Abaddon had been an appropriated site from pre-war ironworks, only now the steel being made here was being used to build machine-controlled structures rather than human-inhabited ones. Crouching down, she slowly nudged the door open with the tip of her rifle. In front of her were a series of computers, and a single REV-5.

_Shit._

It had its back to her. Readings flickered from the computer it was staring at. Quiet as a mouse (not a rat – rats were loud, which made them easy to catch and eat), Grace lowered her rifle, and just as quietly, got out the knife. If she pulled this off correctly, she'd have nothing to worry about. If she didn't, she'd have nothing to worry about by virtue of being dead. Slowly, ever so slowly, she approached the monstrosity from behind, before leaping up and bringing the knife into the back of its neck.

_You're terminated fucker._

The REV fell backwards. Grace caught it, and slowly laid it down on the ground. To her relief, she could see that its eyes were dead. No light, no life, no stare of the Grim Reaper.

_Get to work._

She got out her data-thief and jacked it into one of the computer's ports. She typed **/RUN SEQUENCE**

_Come on, work._

If it didn't, she was screwed. Her entire extraction plan depended on the mission succeeding.

**RUNNING…**

Success being the destruction of the camp.

**RUNNING…**

_Come on! _She glanced back at the REV-5. Soon, if not already, Legion would realize that a unit had been downed.

**SEQUENCE COMPLETE. ACCESS GRANTED.**

Smirking, she typed **DEACTIVATE SECURITY GRID**

**EXECUTING…**

_Don't fail me now. Don't…_

**EXECUTING…**

She turned around. "Shit," she whispered.

The data-thief pinged. Outside, Grace knew that the turrets of Camp Abaddon would be shutting down, and the laser fence deactivated. Moments from now, the Resistance could commence its assault. Which, gratifying as it was, didn't mean that much to her right now considering that a REV-6 was standing in the doorway, looking very tall, very big, and very deadly.

"Hello beastie."

A serrated blade extended from the REV's wrist. It slashed at Grace, but she ducked, rolling off the floor to pick up the pulse rifle. She began to fire, its blasts muffled by the roar of explosions coming from outside.

"Yeah, that's it! Bring it!"

The REV-6 did such a thing. She kept firing. It kept walking. The plasma rounds were hitting it, cutting through its chassis, but it wasn't nearly enough to stop it. Grace got to her feet. It slashed again. The blade clove the plasma rifle in two, and even as she recoiled, through her chest as well.

She couldn't help it. She screamed. She stumbled back against the wall, putting a hand to her chest. Blood trickled out, and the metal wiring beneath her skin was exposed for the world to see. Or at least for the REV-6 to see, which for a moment, just stood there. Staring.

"That's right," Grace whispered. "I know you're watching."

The REV advanced on her.

"This is just the start."

It went to slash her, but with a yell, Grace slammed into it. Even with her 'gifts,' she couldn't match a REV-6 in brute strength. But as powerful as Legion's latest humanoid hunter killer was, they were still as slow as a pachyderm (whatever that was). So as she smashed it against the computers in one second, the next, Grace dived to the side, evading its slash. It advanced on her, but she kicked it in the stomach, sending it staggering. She got to her feet, backed away to the door, and drew out the grenades. In a single motion, she released the pins.

"Eat this."

She tossed them in and slammed the door shut, pushing her weight against it. A moment later, a 'boom' echoed from the other side.

_Fucker. _She slumped down against the wall, watching the scene below. The prisoners were cowering under the half of the REV units that still had their guns trained on them, while the other half were marching out of the smeltery to engage the attack force. An alarm was blaring, and beyond the smeltery, she could hear the sound of rockets, pulse rifles, crashes, and yells. She activated her radio.

"Red Queen calling White Ace – perimeter is down." She frowned. "But you knew that already."

"Status on the prisoners Red Queen."

"There's six-hundred of them here, being held by six REV units. White Ace…you know that some of them are going to die."

"I know Red Queen. But even if sixty of them die, we get over five-hundred recruits."

"Yeah, well, you always were good at running the-"

A blade pierced its way through the door and Grace's back. She screamed.

"Red Queen? Red Queen!"

She staggered forward – again, blood trickled from the wound, and the metal mesh beneath her skin was exposed. But in spite of all that, she staggered away as the REV sent the door flying down to the ground.

_No._

The REV-6 advanced on her. Some of the REV-5s looked up.

_Please no._

The REV-6 kept walking. The REV-5s began to open fire.

_No!_

People screamed. Legion would hear them. Legion wouldn't care. It had lost Abaddon, so its only recourse left was asset denial. Grace, gritting her teeth, and not just from the pain, met the gaze of the REV-6. That eternal red gaze, as it honed in on its target as all its kind did.

"Are you listening?" Grace asked, as she began to walk backwards, trying her best to ignore the screams and the pulse rifle fire.

It kept walking.

"We're coming for you."

It kept walking.

"Whatever happens this day…we're going to get you."

The REV-6 lunged at her. With a yell, Grace ducked, and charged into the REV-6, wrapping her arms around its waist. Yelling, screaming, she lifted it up, and tossed it over the sidewalk, down into the molten steel.

She staggered forward, leaning over the gang walk. None of the REV-5 units even noticed. They just kept firing. Even as the Resistance burst into the smeltery, they just kept firing on the prisoners.

"I'm coming," Grace whispered. She started to stagger along the catwalk. "I'm coming…I'm coming…"

She passed out. Hearing the sound of plasma fire.

Hearing the sound of screams.

* * *

"She's coming to ma'am."

Grace slowly opened her eyes. Even before that, she'd pieced together a few things. First, her wounds had been bandaged. Second, she was in a moving vehicle.

"How you doing soldier?"

The voice. It was familiar, but her mind was lagging behind her eyes, and she couldn't puta name to it. At least not at first. But slowly, as she saw the woman sitting over her, a grim smile on her lips, she recognised her. The one who lead the Resistance. The one who tonight, had been White Ace. The one most people called General Ramos. The who Grace knew mainly by one name.

"Dani!"

She tried to get up but her superior pushed her down. "Easy, Grace, easy."

"But-"

"You're safe, okay? You did good."

Good. Grace closed her eyes for a moment. She didn't feel good. She felt ill. She looked to the side and saw a drip, and beyond that, the covering of a supply truck. She looked back at Dani. "Seriously?"

"You have a regimen Grace, you need to stick to it."

Grace leant back against the pillow. The regimen. Of course. A weekly injection of painkillers to allow her to function, and drugs to stop her immune system from going into overdrive due to the mesh that existed below her epidermis. She knew what she'd been getting into when she signed up for this. What she and others had. Only unlike the others, she kept coming back from these suicide missions.

"What happened?" Grace murmured.

"Abaddon's gone," Dani said. "Took the camp, now we're heading for our RV points."

"How many?" Grace whispered.

"How many did we lose? About twenty. Could lose half of that number by the night's end if we don't treat-"

"No," Grace rasped. She opened her eyes and met Dani's. Eyes older than hers, eyes heavier than hers. "How many prisoners?"

Dani, after a pause, whispered, "Four-hundred and five."

Grace closed her eyes. _One-hundred and ninety-five._

"It could have been worse," Dani said.

"Could have been better," Grace whispered. "If I-"

"Grace, because of you, four-hundred and five men, women, and children are free. And that wouldn't have been possible if not for you, alright?"

"Or you," Grace whispered.

Dani got to her feet. "I'll be up front. Just rest easy, okay?" She patted Grace on the arm. "You did good Grace. Real good." She began to walk forward.

"I should be dead," Grace whispered.

Dani looked back at her.

"I should be dead," she whispered. "I thought when I did this…I mean, first thing I thought was hey, I get to be a killing machine, and I get to live longer. But then the others like me…they kept dying…one after another…and I keep coming back, and I don't know why, and-"

"Grace…"

"Why am I alive Dani? Why?!"

The leader of the Resistance sighed. "I don't know Grace. I won't lie and say I'm not grateful for it, but…I don't know. Maybe it's fate. Maybe you can't die because…there's still something you have to do."

Grace laughed darkly. "Legion," she whispered.

"Grace?"

"Legion," Grace repeated. "I have to be there…when you pull the plug. When we shut that thing down…I have to be there." She looked back at Dani. "Tell me we'll get there Dani. Just…let me go to sleep believing that over two-hundred people didn't die tonight for nothing."

Dani, after a pause, took her hand and squeezed it. "We'll get 'em," she whispered. "We'll get 'em."

"Good," Grace whispered. "Then…guess I'll have to die another day."

She said nothing. Dani said nothing. She lay there, letting the rocking of the truck send her to sleep.


End file.
